Today I hand over the blog to Susan, from crafterhours. Susan is one half of the beautiful duo (Adrianna, the other half) that inspires me and thousands of other mothers, friends, sewers, and DIYers daily. Check out their blog and their 59 tutorials, and please don't miss out on their ingenious creation: Drawer Stickers. BUT first..... a word from Susan about Spoonflower!!

Hi Emmaline Bags readers! I'm Susan from crafterhours. I blog with my friend Adrianna. We write about things we make for ourselves, our families, our friends and our homes.

Janelle asked me to share some thoughts on my experiences with Spoonflower, a digital fabric printing service, and I'm happy to-- it's one of my favorite-est things to do and to talk about! Since there are two ways to use it, I've just written today at crafterhours about using it as a fabric shopper. The second way to use Spoonflower is to function as a designer.

Spoonflower prints on fabric using giant inkjet printers. Not wildly different from what you likely have at home, just a lot bigger, using longer lasting washable inks and specially calibrated to give consistently good results. There's a quick video of one of their printers in action here.

Prices start at $15.75/yard and go up based on the type of fabric you choose. You can order a fabric sample pack for just $1, shipping included. Spoonflower also includes a free printed fabric swatch with every fabric order. You can order swatches, fat quarters, half-yards and infinite yardage. Designers also have the option of ordering samplers at lower costs to test prints. Here's an example of a sampler, where I've printed several versions of a union jack cheater cloth design. Each section is 8" x 8":

Designing for Spoonflower not as mind-boggling as it may sound. If you want to keep things simple, Spoonflower makes it easy to do that. You can upload a wide variety of image sizes and file formats to create a design. Once your design is uploaded, you can use embedded tools to edit the image itself, adjust the colors and choose the way it will repeat.

If you'd like to go a little further than the most basic functions, I have a few tips.

For sure, start by getting a color guide. You can get this one for $1, including shipping. I'd say that's step 1, no matter what you're planning to do. This color guide includes 171 colors-- both a tile of the color and beneath each tile the RGB code you'd need to create it.

The $1 color guide and a few of the printed swatches I've gotten along with fabric orders.

Consider getting the big color map. The $1 chart above is a fantastic start, but the large scale chart is a must-have if you're going to get serious about fabric design. Colors are critical to success. I love this as wall art, but it's entirely practical to have on hand because it doesn't matter how fantastic your monitor is, the colors that appear on a screen will be different from the colors that print on a surface.

In this larger format the codes are included on top of each tile.

Spend some time thinking about the fabric options. This page on the Spoonflower site discusses all of the types of fabric and gives you all of the relevant details like the width and the weight of the fabric. The images of each fabric help illustrate how the same image will appear slightly different on each substrate because of the base color, texture, weight and absorbency of the fabric. Interlock knit, for example, prints differently. It's a substrate that's slightly more oatmeal-ish in color, and the inks are a little more absorbed into the fabric. Not a bad thing, just something to keep in mind.

9 of the 10 current fabric options

At first glance, the price differences seem big in-between the "substrates" or types of fabric. But when you look at the cost of each fabric by the square inch instead of by the yard, the prices aren't that different. Kona (which is PFD white, I learned by asking) is 42" wide and $18/yard. Sateen is 56" wide and $27/yard. Cost per square inch is .14 and .16, respectively. Not too crazy.

If I were to be offered the chance to choose what's next as far as Spoonflower fabrics, I'd like to see a jersey knit option. I'd also like to see larger quantity price breaks. Currently there's a discount of 10% for all designers and 20% for orders of 20 yards or more. I have a projects coming up that could require more than that, at least I'm hoping, so I'd love to see some closer-to-wholesale options.

If you have questions, I'm happy to answer 'em! Thanks for letting me come and play visiting fabric nerd, Janelle!

_________________________________________

Thank you so much Susan! I can't
wait to get started on my own fabric designs. I've got patterns and
now colors and fabrics twirling around in my head. ** Make sure your read more about being a shopper at Spoonflower by reading Susan's post today at crafterhours! Thank you for stopping by,

Veronica over at sewVery has done it again! This is her gorgeous entry to Purse Palooza 2012 (host by Sew Sweetness) last month. I was so excited to see her entry and also find it in the Emmaline Flickr group.

I do love this bag. The blue duck cloth is sturdy and durable and adds a nice weight to the bag, and the solid color does make it a lot easier to wear with more clothes than some of the wilder choices I tend to make for myself! The lining is so cheerful and happy and screams SUMMER! The vintage trim on the belt is such a perfect match.

If you'd like to read Veronica's pattern review of the Steph in the City Bag, see more pictures, and hear about her fabric choices, please hop over to her blog, sewVery. While you are there, check out her amazing tutorials. This Ruffle Neck Romper Tutorial is only from a few days ago... how cute is this?!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, to Shasta at In The Old Road, for helping me learn exactly what I didn't know I needed to really know! If you aren't following what I'm saying here, that's okay, you don't need to - Shasta will do a better job of explaining it. If you don't know anything about Google+ and you want to know why you need it OR if you do know everything about G+ and want to join along to help get many, many more followers, her series will surely help. This is her latest post, #3 in a series of 4. In the Old Road: What Can Google+ Do For YOU? - Part 3 (blogger benefits) If you click over to that post, there are direct links to posts #1 and #2 that will help you get started with G+. She explains it all, even how to set up your profile!

Catch up quick so you can learn along with me on July 28th for the final post of the series and get your G+ profile ready and looking good for the G+ Blog Hop on August 4th. It's sounds like it's going to be a great way to score heaps of new friends and followers.

My little family, along with my business Emmaline Bags & Patterns, is moving to Canada on August 22nd. As much as we'll miss Australia, it's time to move home to our family, friends and beloved Canada.

To celebrate, I'm offering all of my customers a 20% discount on your entire cart when you buy 2 or more items. (While hardware supplies last, no limit on patterns)

Buy your handbag hardware or PDF Sewing Patterns in the SHOP, and when you are in the shopping cart, simply add the discount code POLARBEAR to receive your discount.
Discount only available until August 15, 2012.

Thank you and Happy Sewing!!!

* Limited to stock on hand, while supplies last.
** Allow 7-10 business days shipping for all international orders.
*** Please email for shipping rates on large orders.

Someday I'll sew a leather Emmaline Bag just like Rose from rose.is.a.rose did, because she has completely inspired me. She makes it look sew easy... and soft... and leathery.... and, and... you just have to see it!

Sewing With Leather:
Rose's post on sewing with leather has several pointers and tips on sewing with leather such as leather thickness, leather sourcing, needles, how to press, proper sewing feet, etc.. I certainly am not able to write such a post based on personal experience so I direct you to Rose. Here is the post, hop to it!! Leather Emmaline Bag with Tips for Sewing Leather

What I found out: I found out that it is possible to sew a gorgeous bag on my own machine, I found out where to buy leather, which was a bit daunting in itself, and found out that I can't wait to try it! I also found out that I intended to feature Rose's leather bag post, but ending up learning much more. (See below.)

A Bit About Rose:
I'd like to tell you a little more about Rose Beck, if you don't know her already. I found Rose when I read her post about her bag contribution to Purse Palooza 2012 on Sew Sweetness. I immediately loved her lilac leather bag, and I was drawn in by her gorgeous knitting.

Rose calls herself a beginning seamstress, but really, with a bag
like that - she should surely call herself accomplished, shouldn't she?
But she doesn't just sew, she is well and truly a very accomplished
knitter who designs and sells several (34) knitting patterns on Ravelry. Gorgeous, beautiful, lovely... shawls, socks, hats. Really you must look!

Rose's work makes me smile, and her designs are beautiful, and her story is inspiring. When I read her designer profile on Ravelry, it just got me right there. I know that is not an eloquent description of my emotions but, it just really spoke to me. I can't imagine the personal emotional and physical strife she has endured, as I know some of you will yourself, but her message at the end is simple and inspiring and, those are the words I too try to live by too! Thank you for the reminder, Rose.

Rose Beck's Ravelry Profile:

"I’ve been knitting and crocheting for over 20 years. A recent medical
leave found with me with little strength for knitting but considerable
time to explore designing.

I like to knit and design lace shawls, especially simple, elegant
shawls that make the most of today’s gorgeous hand-dyed luxury yarns.

Why “RosyPosy Designs” as a name? After going through chronic fatigue
syndrome and breast cancer treatment at the same time, I forced myself
to take a positive outlook on life, otherwise I would end up crazy and
depressed. “RosiePosie” was a nickname my friends and family used when I
was little, and I remember hating it. I chose a resurrected form of
this name to remind myself of my new take on life, where despite
everything, I can choose to view my life as rosy.

Taking pictures of hardware.... Does anyone have any pointers?? Flying by the seat of my pants here!!

Please hop over the shop and tell me what you think of the layout... it's work in progress and I'd welcome any input. Of course, it will have to change when the new items come, but I hope it's good for now.

About Me

Welcome to the blog! I'm Janelle, and I run a growing bag making supply and pattern design company up in the very cold areas of Canada. This is the place to find info on upcoming patterns, contests & free sewing tutorials and patterns.

Shop our hardware!

A Note

The contents of this blog, including text, original photos and ideas are the sole property of the author.
If you intend to use my text or images, please link back to this blog and give credit to Emmaline Bags & Patterns. A notification email would be greatly appreciated too!
Please do not ever republish an entire post, any tutorials, or post photos of my family.
Thank you, Janelle